


The Nightsister's Magic

by SkywalkerCrow



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Body Horror, Body Swap, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Pre-Star Wars: A New Hope, Tags Contain Spoilers, bc you know... Vader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-08-04 17:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16350872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkywalkerCrow/pseuds/SkywalkerCrow
Summary: The Rebels and the Empire race to find a holocron in a recently discovered temple in the outer rim. Both parties arriving at the same time cause a consequence unexpected and unpleasant for everyone involved.





	1. The Holocron

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all love the more magical side of the force seen in TCW and Rebels.
> 
> Set before ANH and within the SWRebels timeline

The princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, was barely seventeen and she was already an elected senator and an active member in the Rebellion. With her status as a senator, and as the princess of a non-militarized planet, she was often able to travel long distances in humanitarian missions, it was easy to claim that on said mercy missions a ship was lost to pirates. It was also easy for Leia to transfer information between different rebellion factions without suspicion on said missions.

It was on one such mission when she received a transmission that was supposed to be brought to the newly indoctrinated Ghost crew. A very small Rebel group that stood out from the rest because they had a two Jedi onboard.

 _Supposed to_ be being the key words. Because the group had only just joined, they very rarely made contact with the main groups or base. They preferred to stick to themselves. Often not even trusting the other Rebel factions because of the Jedi onboard.

Which is why Leia Organa could not quickly give the transmission to them, no one knew where they were. And being in a privileged position in the Rebellion she made the choice to act on the information given and on her own knowledge of the Jedi. Leia Organa made the bold decision of forming a small squadron and planed an infiltration mission to acquire the ancient holocron for the living Jedi of the Rebellion.

They had to investigate the temple before the Empire burned it to the ground. And if they gave the holocron to the Ghost crew, Leia was positive the two Jedi would grow a lot more trusting of the organizing Rebellion as a whole.

It was quickly approved with the Rebels infatuation with the legendary Jedi, the idea that they would be restoring a part of the Jedi that were lost, and the low risk of a small infiltration of an unoccupied planet. Along with the hope that this mission would encourage the Ghost crew to become more involved with the main factions of the Rebellion making it so the Rebels once again had Jedi in their ranks.

* * *

 

Of course, because any news of Jedi traveled fast in the Rebellion, it also traveled fast to the Empire.

"There has been urgent news from our spies." The captain of Vader's current ship, Piett spoke to his commander in a crisp core would accent. "The Rebels have gotten word of a Jedi temple, located on Dathomir. They appear to launching a small recon team to investigate."

This was interesting news. But there were no Jedi temples on Dathomir. Because of the secrecy of the Jedi, the Sith and other force factions were not well known. He could see how many people often mistook them for one another. The Rebels would be in for a surprise if they expected a Jedi temple. Especially considering the trickery of the extinct Nightsisters of the planet.

However this would be a good chance to eliminate any Jedi who were in the Rebellion that may come to investigate it. Vader would like them to be those two half trained Jedi that kept reappearing on Lothal. If not, elimination of ordinary Rebels and the destruction of the temple would do just fine.

"Inform General Veers to prepare a small squad immediately. We will arrive before the Rebels and wait to ambush them." Lord Vader gave the Captain orders.

"Right away milord."

* * *

 

Taking only a small crew of stormtroopers and their General, allowed for an immediate departure to Dathomir, it also allowed them to remain undetected for when the Rebels arrived.

The main problem was they were not entirely sure where the temple was. Their spies had not been able to determine the exact location the Rebels has received, if they had received one at all.

Darth Vader flew into the planet blind trusting only the force to guide his path.

They landed the ship far away from what had once been civilization as Vader followed the largest presence in the force he could find. He hoped it was not simply left over Nightsister magic that drew him into this area.

"Milord do you know where the temple is located?" General Veers asked him.

"I do not. But the force has guided me here." Vader responded. "We will walk a short ways to the location, we do not want the Rebels to detect our ship."

The small platoon followed Darth Vader as they trekked through the red and green planet.

"The Rebels have breached atmosphere." The stormtrooper captain said, as they were closely approaching the location.

Vader reached out in the force, there was a singular ship, no more then twenty people inside. This meant they likely thought this would be a quick infiltration mission.

A disappointing discovery was that the Jedi- Palawan duo, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, who he had meet once before and had escaped his grasp, were not onboard the ship. But there was another force signature. One that seamed familiar but he did not know the name of.

"There is a singular Jedi onboard the rebels ship. If possible they are to be captured for interrogation." He told the troops.

A chorus of, "Yes milord" came from his stormtroopers as they readied their weapons for the incoming fight.

What Vader believed to be the temple was in sight. It was carved from dark stone and glowing green with the Nightsister's presence. A decade after their extinction the temple appeared to be in perfect working order. The Nightsister magic still pouring out in green smoke as if it was being freshly created.

Moving through the halls of the Nightsister's temple he sensed a disturbance in the force. It was not a disturbance of warning or danger, but rather a pulling call that beckoned him deeper.

Vader had wanted to set up the ambush towards the entrance of the temple, but he felt compelled to move inward by the force.

He could almost hear the whispers of whatever laid in the center of this place calling to him like kyber crystals called to the force sensitive.

_"Come to us, you are not of the Jedi or Sith. You may be worthy."_

He could almost see shadows of people moving through the temple as they once had. It was as if the temple was still alive years after the Nightsister's extinction.

None of his troops seamed to be effected by whatever laid within.

It was only until General Veers spoke up did Vader stop the journey to the center of the temple.

"Milord, would this be a good place to set up the ambush?" Veers said, not wanting to outright say Vader was making the wrong choice to keep moving inward.

The area they were in was a room decorated in carved wall writings and places in between a myriad of seemingly endless hallways.

"Set up the ambush here." Vader said knowing Veers was correct. "I will return shortly before the Rebels arrive."

Walking through an archway Vader continued his journey to the center of the temple alone.

Deep within the stone hallways he came to a circular room with intricate carved patterns in the floor. It was Interesting to note this room had five entrances, meaning that it would be possible for the Rebels to take a different path to the center that did not intersect with theirs. In the center of the room there was a raised platform where a glowing red triangular holocron gently floated.

There was a Sith holocron within a Dathomiran temple.

Strange, but the Nightsister's had used a mixture of the dark and light side of the force. It would not be impossible for them to have experimentally make a hybrid holocron. Much like Sith holocrons whatever was inside must have been infused with a person's life force and therefore was capable of communication with the living.

_"Are you worthy?"_

The voice spoke to him again, and this time he knew it was coming from the holocron itself.

Vader, not willing to place himself in some sort of battle with this ghost, left the room and returned to his troops. He felt the holocron call back to him one more. But he knew better then to grab that object with his hands. The Sith holocrons were vastly different then their Jedi counterparts, and with this one having part Nightsister inside it was likely more dangerous then the Sith ones could ever hope to be.

_"Do not leave me here alone."_

"Lord Vader do you know what the scripture on the wall says?" His general asked, gesturing to said walls that were encased in symbols and lettering.

"I understand the language." Vader told him. Darth Sidious had him learn the language a long time ago while he had been recovering from his burns. It was the language of the Sith. Once used by many, now only two. The fact that the walls were inscribed with this language instead of the Nightsister's own meant they had once been in close contact with the Sith. How long ago this was and why, Vader did not know.

"Will you translate this for us milord?" Veers said pointing to the words above the archway headed towards the holocron Vader had just walked out of. This phrase seemed to be carved repeatedly into the walls.

The words were written in Sith, but the phrases themselves were obviously Nightsister. Often cryptic in their statements, more like poetry meant to capture feeling rather then having any substance or meaning.

"Blood that sheds blood shall walk in one another's path." He translated for Veers, the words loosing rhythm and rhyme in the translation. "Life of life that causes death will live as that death and it will set us free."

The last part of the short poem reminded Vader of the Sith and Jedi codes. Whoever had built this temple had taken inspiration from them.

"I'm not sure if I understand." Veers spoke his mind without prompting.

"These Nightsister's writings are more of poetry then substance. It would be useless to spend time determineing their meaning."

Darth Vader hoped the Rebels path would intersect with their own within this labyrinth of a temple. Hopefully the Jedi onboard would be called to the center in the same path he had been.

And he sensed the Jedi was getting closer with each passing moment.

* * *

 

The Rebels, unsuspecting of the incoming ambush, followed Leia Organa through the tunnels unprepared for the upcoming fight, chatting among themselves.

The princess had been positive on the correct way through the tunnels despite having no map, traveling through hallways positive they were not lost.

None of them saw the ambush coming.

The Empire opened fire on the Rebels before they realized they were there.

With many supporting beams, artful arch-work, and intersecting hallways, there were many places for the Rebels to hide and they quickly took cover and returned fire. Princess Leia chose to stick to the back of the room as she was not as heavily equipped in armor as the rest of the Rebels.

Darth Vader, as usual, took place in front of his stormtroopers with his lightsaber out, deflecting the incoming fire and protecting his small group of troops as he slowly pushed forward. The Rebels were outmatched and clinging to their hiding places best they could, trying to avoid shooting at Vader's lightsaber and endure more blasterfire.

Leia seeing more archways behind her and feeling the urgent  need to find whatever laid at the center, left the battle zone and ran trough a doorway behind Rebel lines.

Vader sensing what he believed to be the Jedi take off running through the hallways, stopped blocking blaster fire and ran through the archway he knew led to the Sith holocron, taking a blaster shot to his right shoulder as he disengaged from battle. Leaving his troops to finish off the remaining Rebels.

He arrived in the holocron's room a second after what he had presumed to be the Jedi did.

The Sith Lord was incredibly surprised to not see a Jedi, but rather the young princess and senator of Alderaan Leia Organa. Knowing this, Vader now had to capture her alive in order to fully convict the Royal household of treason without risking a full scale planetary Rebellion. Sidious would be disappointed in him if he did anything less.

Being much taller and stronger then the princess he was able to catch up to her quickly.

The princess had just gotten her hands on the triangular holocron when Vader was able to get a hold on her arm. Planning on dragging her out of the temple and bringing her directly to the jail cells onboard his Star-destroyer.

However, neither of the two were able to make another move as a presence entered their minds and turned their thoughts to static, stopping their current actions.

_"We haven't been visited in a long time."_

A woman's voice spoke directly too them, in a strong but unpleasant voice.

_"It's a shame neither of you are worthy of me."_

Vader tried to fight off her presence but was trapped within his own mind, unable to connect with his body.

 _**"But maybe you could be."** _  


	2. Switched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vader and Leia wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how the Star Wars senate works so I just BSed it 
> 
> A lot of referencing to the Vader comics. but you dont need to read them to understand 
> 
> Fun fact! I hate butter!
> 
> TW: body horror, slight panic attack, slight mention of eating problems

Darth Vader did not remember going to sleep, but he could feel the haze of waking up from a deep slumber. Not being able to immediately recall what had happen beforehand, his first thought was to assume he had fallen unconscious taking injuries out in the field, and was currently experiencing the usual temporary amnesia. However unlike those times, Vader could tell he was not in his Bacta tank, but rather a bed. That was unusual.

His second thought was, _had he been captured somehow?_

Assuming the absolute worst, not wanting to let anyone know he was awake, he searched in the force and found the presence of everyone in the immediate area to be unfamiliar. However, there was no one currently in the room he occupied.  


When he opened his eyes he was met with the harsh white and bright lights of a standard medical bay. This was another immediate cause for concern that added to thought of being captured. The second in command had his own medical bay on his Star Destroyer, he should not have been brought here. But there were several things that contradicted his theory of capture.  


For one, he was not restrained in any manner. Perhaps whoever had brought him here believed Vader would not be able to escape without his armor and respirator.

Thinking about his broken body, Vader realized he was breathing. On his own.

Unlike the fantasies he used to have years ago when he first became Vader, he wasn't filled with happiness or relief. This was immensely frightening, freezing him to his core. More so then anything he had experienced in years.  


There was an inherent since of _incorrect_ that started to sink into every inch of his skin.  


It was then that he observed himself, slowing turning his hands around as he looked in disbelief at real human skin and bones. But they were nothing like the hands he remembered having before her day on Mustafar. Even when he was a Jedi his skin had never been this pale of a color, this free of marks and untarnished from work and war.  


Moving aside the sheets he saw that the rest of his body was nothing like anything he had ever seen before.

 _Incorrect._ All he could think was this was incorrect. Everything about this was surreal.

He did not have arms and unscarred skin.  


He did not have arms and legs made of flesh.

Vader had sometimes dreamed of having his body before it had been burned away, but now having an unmarred badly he felt incredibly sick and wrong. It was as if he was hyperaware of every inch of himself and every move he made.

Vader calmed himself by attempting to not think about it. What has happened cannot be changed immediately, so he must focus on something else, anything else.  


Slowly he remembered where he had been before this, in the Sith-nightsister hybrid temple. The Rebel fight and the discovery of the Organa's treason.  


They must have done this. Whatever this was. The Nightsisters had been known for their unique way in using the force and the unpredictable havoc it often caused.

Then Vader thought, _why this?_

There was no time to contemplate this development as he sensed someone approaching this room. It was a familiar presence, but one that he couldn't place the name of, until the door opened and Vader saw their face; Bail Organa.

"I'm glad you're finally awake, you've been out for several hours, I've been worried sick about you." Alderaan's previous senator, greeted him as if they were close friends. Worthy of note, was that Organa recognized him somehow. He acted as if he knew this body and form.  


_Why was Bail Organa still walking free?_ Vader thought. _Had the rest of his troops not seen the Alderaanian Princess amongst the Rebels ranks?_

"You'll be happy to know the package was delivered." Bail spoke in a heavy but understanding tone, slowly approaching the medical bed. "But you should have told me. You shouldn't have gone. You know how I worry about you dear. You're lucky you managed to escape unseen and unharmed."

That is when Vader understood he had not changed his form, he had changed into a different person that had already existed. Someone Organa cared for.  


Now his thoughts were not of what but, _Who_ had the Nightsister's made him into?

With a sincere expression Bail sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, the warmth of his palm sinking into his skin. Vader was incredibly uncomfortable with Bail's display of affection. But he resisted pushing his hand away.  


"Leia, you need to tell me what happened on Dathomir. You were found unconscious next to Darth Vader, but you were somehow completely unharmed."

Vader could not say anything if he tried. Of all the people in the galaxy, the last of the Nightsisters decided to change him into the traitor Leia Organa.  


It must have been because they both made contact with the holocron.

"What's wrong? Are you alright." Bail asked, concerned, noticing what he believed to be his child's distress and attempted to soothe it.  


However Bail's actions did the opposite of soothing Vader, unused to this kind of affection it caused dread. It caused Vader to think more on how incorrect all of this was. How he wasn't even the person Bail thought he was comforting.

_How he didn't deserve-  
_

"I need to go to the refresher." Vader spoke, barely registering the foreign sound of his voice as he stood up.  


If Bail said anything in responce he didn't notice it as he went into the refresher and immediately closed and locked the door. Vader believed this plan for some cool down time would have worked if it wasn't for the mirror. The face he was greeted with was familiar, but it was not his. It had never once been his. And although Vader had known he was now Leia, knowing was completely different to seeing; to look into a mirror and to not see your own face.  


The traitorous Leia Organa looked back at him. Blinking as he did, moving as he did, it was like how he felt after Mustafar, seeing a face in the mirror- that you knew was yours, looked familiar, but you did not feel as if it was _you,_ and thinking as you were transfixed on yourself, "That's me? Is that really what I look like? This is how other people see me?"

The princess looked different from her usual regal high fashion self. The hair that was perfectly braided was partly undone and woven with dirt and dust, and the white outfit was stained with grey and brown. To put it another way, they were uncharacteristically a mess.  


Vader was not sure what to do with himself. He had never come up with a plan for this. The Nightsister's have truly outdone themselves this time. One final "Kriff you" to the rest of the galaxy for daring to ever step foot on their planet.  


Those treacherous Nightsisters causing problems far after their extinction.  


This needed to be reversed as soon as possible.  


He could just say here for a little while, until he got a hold of himself and came up with some sort of plan on how to handle this madness. Or, he thought noticing the clothes placed on the countertop, he could actually get something done now. He doubted Bail would let him walk outside this room looking like this.  


The singular thing he was thankful for in this moment was that Alderaan's fashion was uncomplicated and easy to put on. Although he wasn't a fan of the white.  


Then he noticed Leia's eyes were yellow.

It took Vader far too long to realized he had been using the force within Leia Organa's body. He felt like a fool for not noticing sooner. After all, he had mistaken her for being a Jedi on Dathomir, it wasn't as if that mattered in the current moment. There was absolutely nothing Vader could do without incriminating himself as he was now the Organa Princess. At the very least Vader would still be connected to the dark side of the force and he could use its power to steady himself.  


Thinking of Leia, he realized this must mean she was in his body. Her consciousness certainly was not within this body. The idea of someone else, never mind a Rebel, walking around as him was greatly disturbing. The havoc a rebel in his body could cause was unthinkable, she could ruin his relationship with Sidious, send the Rebels valuable information, or worse yet she could destroy his body permanently, and there would be no more Darth Vader to the rest of the galaxy.

Vader held onto that feeling of unease and fear, letting the dark side of the force swallow him whole, using his negative emotions to keep himself centered. While a rebel was in his body, he was in the body of a rebel, and he was going to rip them apart from the inside out. With this in mind, tuning this disastrous situation into a workable one, he left the refresher.

"Are you alright?" Bail asked the second he exited.

Vader swears he would take back anything he's ever complained about the higher ranked imperials if it meant he wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense.

"Yes, of course I am." Vader said in Leia's voice, attempting to mimic her core world accent. When he spoke his throat felt clear and light, unlike the scratch talking was supposed to feel like.  


"Are you ready to tell me what happened between yourself and Darth Vader?" He questioned. "No one saw."

Vader did not think up of a lie for this.  


"I... am not entirely sure what happened." He said offering as little information as possible. "I was in a fight, than I awoken here."

"Did he see you?"

"No." Vader had to fight the smile from his face by pressing his lips together. He was not used to having to school his expressions.    


If only he could record all of this. The moment he gets back into his body he is going to take this man's head off. It was very likely a lot of the Rebellion's funding came from the Organa family.

Bail sighed.  


"If you feel you are well enough you may return to Coruscant, the relief ship is hidden in the lower docking bay. The doctor didn't see anything that was wrong, and we can't let anyone be suspicious by keeping you here." The man was obviously upset at his daughter's actions but knew being angry would not help the situation.  


"I'll leave right away then." Vader said turning his back to Bail as he faced the door, he knew he wouldn't be able to help the sneer on his face as he said. "It would be... unfortunate if Vader knew of our involvement." Before walking out the door and going to board the ship to Coruscant.

* * *

 

Color was a thing Vader didn't realize he would be so focused on until it caused him to nearly walk into another being. It was as if he was seeing green and pink for the first time all over again. The hospital and the relief ship he was just in had been devoid of all color, and his mask only showed him hues of red as to avoid further damage to his eyes; While senatorial apartments were covered in complementary colors of purple and yellow, the people walking the halls wore all the colors of the rainbow in high fashion that kept catching his eye whenever they passed.  


Another thing he wasn't expecting is that he now had to look up to people to see their face instead of down.  


It was then that Vader realized he had no idea where Leia Organa's apartment room was and he felt like a fool as he had to look it up on Leia's comlink, which was luckily thumbprint and not password locked.

Finally walking into Leia Organa's apartment he was greeted by a familiar voice of a protocol droid.

"Oh good heavens her majesty is alright." A golden protocol droid greeted him with genuine concern. "Welcome back, I hope your trip went well, you know how we don't like you going out without us."

Protocol droids were common in the galaxy among the upper class, often serving as translators and cooks. For a moment he almost thought it had been his old droid.

"What is my schedule?" Vader asked the droid assuming he handled things like that.

"You have the regularly scheduled senate sessions from ten to two. An hour break and then another hour long senate session. After that dinner with-"

"-Cancel dinner. I don't want to eat with anyone."

"Oh my, but your majesty it's with your close friend."

<So has Mon Mothma finally made you mad about something> A blue and white astronomical unit he hadn't noticed until now said in binary. <Threepio cancel it immediately, I knew that woman was a bit too soft spoken, probably was talking poodoo behind her back.>

"Hush now, I'm sure her majesty is still friends with Senator Mothma." The protocol droid said simultaneously as Vader said, "Threepio?"

If this droid was really _his_ Threepio Vader decided the moment he returned to his body he was going to not only behead Bail Organa but he would also personally burn the Alderaan royal household to the ground, and that astromech unit must be his Artoo, he certainly spoke like him. Vader had thought they were both destroyed on Mustafar, as Anakin and _She_ had once been.

"Oh sorry for speaking over you, your majesty, Artoo here just made some less then nice comments about your friend." Threepio said unaware of Vader's revelation and slow steaming anger.  


If Vader could have imagined a meeting with his old two droids, this was not it. He wasn't sure how these two ended up here but he knew if they both were aware he was alive they would have stayed by his side. They would have never betrayed him.  


"Who is your creator?" He asked Threepio.  


"Oh my, I do not know. Why do you ask?"

"How old are you?"

"Hmmm," Threepio took a moment to search his memory banks, "It appears I am seventeen standard years old."

The exact number of years since the Empire, Since Mustafar. They must have been memory wiped the moment Bail had gotten his hands on them.

Bail Organa would be dead where he stood for memory wiping his droids. Threepio and Artoo were not a caretakers for his kid. They were _his_ comrades, his friends.

<Since when do you understand binary? And where did all these questions come from>

Artoo was always the smart one.  


"I've been learning it in my spare time. I've become... interested in mechanics."

Maybe if he had tools to work on them both he could restore their memory banks. He knew he built in failsafes in both of them, it was something the Jedi were not pleased about when they found out, but it had saved their lives on more then one occasion. It was a surprise to think someone had managed to wipe Artoo's mind, if not a disgusting act it would be commendable.  


<Yeah? Well where did your accent go Miss Organa.>

"Oh Artoo, calm down, you always get so worked up about small things." Threepio said cutting the tension.

Vader had forgotten about the core world accent. He had forgotten how his droid has gotten a few personality quirks from his meddling in their systems. He didn't exactly want to lie to his droids when he wanted to eventually bring them back to where they belong, but saying their old friend was alive and he switched bodies with the Princess of Alderaan because of the Nightsister wasn't exactly something he expected living sentients to understand and believe, never mind two droids.  


Sometimes he feels as if the force existed solely to mess with him in particular.

"... I have no way of explaining what happened to me."

<I doubt it, I've seen a lot of crazy things in my time.>

"And what kind of crazy things would a princess's droid see?" Vader said, lowering to his knees so that he was on equal view to the droid.

<You seam to have forgotten again that I wasn't always yours Princess> Artoo said moving closer to him in challenge, <not that your allowed to know who, security and all that.>

Then Artoo had _not_ been memory wiped then based on that information. It was almost tragic, memory wiping one of the pair and not the other.

Vader's eyebrows rose as he curled his lip in a crocked snarl, showing teeth to meet Artoo's challenge as he said, "And you seam to have kept your snarky attitude from the Clone Wars." Unable to help himself from one upping the droid.  


<What?> Artoo backed up a few inches in surprise. <Who told you that? Did you find out on your little trip? Or did Bail finally tell you>

"You could say that. You could say that's also why I'm asking questions and lost the accent." Vader said lowing his voice dangerously.

"Mistress Leia," Threepio said interrupting their face off with good intentions, "believe me when I tell you arguing with Artoo is never good for you."

"Maybe you're right..." Vader quickly stood up from his knees. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

The second in command needed to get back on track and look for evidence of the Organa's Rebel activity. The Princess's room would make a decent starting point.

As he attempted to search he quickly discovered the princess's room did not make a good starting point. There was nothing of value here, he had even checked behind the walls and flooring for a hidden compartment, running his fingers along every seam and tapping on it to listen for empty pockets of space, but there was nothing. Just copious amounts of white clothes and a few holos of the Organa's family.  


Only thirty minutes had passed by the time he was done searching the entire room, and then he was left with nothing to do.

It was strange to be not busy with some kind of work constantly. Vader felt as if he should be doing something important right now, but he wasn't exactly Vader at the moment. He felt as if he was a caged animal making restless rounds in a small enclosure unable to run as it wanted to.

Although not fond of it, Vader could still meditate in the force as he waited for something to do.

He sat with crossed legs on the edge of Leia's bed.

The thing he was looking forward too least of all was that tomorrow he would have to go to the senate. It felt like time was slowly ticking down the the moment he would be forced to interact with politicians and for the fist time he wouldn't have intimidation on his side, nor would he be able to get away with threatening one of them when they inevitably said something out of line.

And then his thoughts turned away from the mundane as they quickly become swept into the will of the force.  


The presence of Darth Sidious was absent from the planet. Despite being filled with life, this made Coruscant feel oddly silent.  


_Mustafar,_ the force told him. _He is on Mustafar._

Likely with his body injured and found unconscious, he would be bought to his medical facility on Mustafar. And His Master would be awaiting for what he believed to be his apprentice's awakening, so that he could belittle him for his failure. It was humiliating for Vader to think of the Rebel Scum Organa getting to see how the mysterious and imposing figure of Lord Vader was truly treated. There was a burning shame that came with her knowing how broken he was with no detail spared. It would be a miracle of the force if Organa did not somehow complete destroy the fragile relationship he had with Sidious. 

Then Vader heard the force whisper to him in hues of bright green and red.  


_Unworthy.  
_

They told him.  


But what was it that he was unworthy of? He knew of a great many things he didn't deserve, many of them had eventually been taken from him. This was speaking to him as if he believed himself to be worthy of something in particular, something that he did believe himself to be worthy of.

_You think you're the special one?_

Vader was nothing special in the Empire, if he failed he would simply be replaced by one of the Inquisitors. The Emperor had told him this many times.

 _Balance, of the darkness and the light_.  


Vader was not balance, he was only darkness. He was a void that consumed everything and everyone in sight.

"Are you quite alright?" A posh voice said in concern, he paid it no mind in the vortex of the force.  


_Is that truly who you are, who everyone thought you were._

Vader was not that child of light everyone thought would someday save them all, none of them were deserving of savior. Not after leaving the outer rim behind, not after leaving his mother behind in slavery, not after sending a fourteen year old to war, not after using the clones like game pieces as if they weren't alive. In order for Vader to fulfill his destiny he needed to eradicate them and their corrupt order. Next he would kill Sidious. Then balance would be finally brought, the endless war between the Sith and the Jedi would end, and with it soon after Darth Vader's life would end as well. Leaving a galaxy in peace. Only after his destiny is met could he be allowed to die. Not a moment before. He had tried.  


The voice spoke one last time, and with it Vader realized it was the same voice of the hybrid holocron. The one that cursed him into this.  


**_You are not that to me._ **

"Mistress Leia!?"  


Vader was harshly jolted from his meditation.

"Mistress Leia, have you been up all night?" Threepio asked him, standing a few feet from the door holding a tray with breakfast. "I've called you a few times now."

It appears he did mediate all night. Time in the force moved faster during meditation when the user successfully drowned themselves in its pull. The dark side stronger then the light more often caressed the user deeper and deeper into the depths of its tide as they became lost in visions and voices. And the force certainly loved to pull it's Chosen One into its grasp.

"I know you want your senate bill to be perfect, but organics really need their rest." Concerned, his droid said.   


Then Vader was supposed to have been doing something the night before, he just had not known what it was. It was not as if it mattered, he would not have worked on the senate bill even if he had known. Not like he could fix it even if he cared enough to look at it. There was a reason the Emperor did not allow him to make laws, or involve him with the political side of the Empire.

 _Remember when you tired? Remember how you were denied?_ A dark part of his mind told him. _The Emperor thought of you like a child._

"I'll get rest another time." Vader said to reassure his anxious droid.

"I'll put breakfast in the dining room." Threepio said before making his way through the door.

Artoo was nowhere to be found as he made his way after Threepio.  


The food smelt completely unappetizing to him, the smell made him clench his jaw and crinkle his nose in disgust, it was a greasy butter stench that slid down your throat like hot vomit and made his stomach churn.

Vader sat down and gave his best fake smile to Threepio, "Thanks for making this."

"Oh? Oh! Of course your majesty, I am here to serve." Threepio sounded happy and surprised to hear this.

Normally all of Vader's nutrients were given to him via intravenous tubes unless he was at Mustafar, and when he was there the food was tasteless. He tried to eat the food in front of him and while it went down fine he didn't want to eat anything.

"Why don't you pick out my outfit for today."

The droid said, "Of course your majesty, I'll do so right away." Then he proceeded into the bedroom very pleased with himself.

Vader promptly got rid of breakfast.  


Then something on the table caught his eye as it glinted in the light. There was a knife. Of course wasn't a viroblade, but it did have a serrated edge, it would cut through cloth and skin if given enough pressure.  


Being in charge of many security measures Vader knew the knife wouldn't be detected and confiscated like a viroblade would be when he entered the senate building.

It was better to have something then to be completely defenseless if he couldn't show his force abilities, even if that something wasn't that good of a weapon, so he took the knife and slipped it into his boot before going to follow after Threepio.

* * *

 

Politics. Darth Vader was not good with politics. He was far too direct. It was a good thing the senate had no actual power and none of his actions in the senate meant anything. Because Vader had no idea what was going on or what anyone was taking about or what it meant most of the time. It wasn't as if he was completely lost, he was well aware of the main subject people spoke to him about, but because the other politicians often conflated their sentences with unnecessary words to hide their true stance on the subject, he often had no idea if the person he was speaking to was for or against the subject.  


Vader was pretty sure he accidentally insulted at least twelve people by now, judging by the unpleasant faces they made at him occasionally.  


Everything about being Leia Organa was a serious test to his limited patience.  


The worst part about it all was that he couldn't find anything related to the Rebellion anywhere in her apartment, or her Senate office, or in the other people she spoke too.  


On top of that there were a lot of normal things that Vader was not used to doing that he had to do now. Things he hadn't realized how much time they all took up on a daily basis.

Eating three times, getting dressed, showering once and sleeping for about eight hours ever single day took up far too much time then Vader remembered it taking before he had been in the suit. It was tiresome doing all theses things every day.   


It was a good thing that Threepio was there to make him look senatorial for the public. There was no way he would he ever spend an hour doing his hair and bland makeup every single day.  


Darth Vader lived as Leia Organa for five days before he heard word of himself. The news stations said he had fought valiantly against the Rebels in the front line and protected his stormtroopers against a Rebel ambush. It wasn't entirely true but he knew The Empire liked to embellish stores to make them more interesting, and more importantly saying their second in command had passed out during battle and their objective had been lost would not make the Empire look as all powerful as they wanted to appear.  


At least now he knew Leia Organa, piloting his body, would be coming to Coruscant very soon. Knowing this predicament he would bet Organa is going to come looking for her body- and Vader will be waiting.  


They had a lot to talk about.

* * *

 

When the second in command of the Empire had suddenly disengaged from a winning battle against the Rebels and ran for the holocron room, many of the stormtroopers, startled by his behavior, stooped fighting and attempted to rush after him.  


General Veers was unable to prevent his small squadron from being shot in the back.  


Both teams were left with few survivors scrambling for their leaders who had both abruptly disappeared from battle. The Rebels were able to take off for their leader first, being much less organized having only a few of them chase after Leia, leaving more then half the squad to come out of their hiding and shoot the stormtroopers in the back.

Coming into the circular room and seeing Darth Vader and Leia Organa both unconscious out on the ground, the Rebels took the princess and the red holocron, and ran for one of the other exists in the opposite side of the room, but not before they put a few extra blaster bolts into Vader's back. Thinking they had finally killed him before making their escape with their squad leader.  


The Empire was able to finish off the Rebels who had stayed before they, too, came into the now empty room, and saw the second in command laying on the floor with blaster burns in his back.  


General Veers was horrified at the thought that this small group of Rebels has managed to defeat Vader, but he was greatly relieved to realize his commander was still alive, calling in for backup and a medical team immediately.

The mission for the Imperials was considered a failure, and the Rebels, although suffered tragic losses, completed their objective and lived on to see another day.

* * *

 

Leia Organa did not wake up all at once like Vader had. She came in and out of consciousness unable to fully awaken in the thick viscous Bacta tank. Halfway in between wake and sleep, she was unable to comprehend what was happening as she drifted for days in a state of complete haze.  


Until, the tank was drained and there was a sharp shock of pain in her limbs, as she was suddenly completely woken from her sleep in a single moment, and attempted to scream, but was unable to as her those felt sore and raw and on top of that there was something strapped to her face over her nose and mouth that kept her mouth firmly shut. Then abruptly some kind of machinery released her from its cold grip and she fell on her knees to the floor, barely able to catch herself from falling face first into the hard floor.  


The first thing Leia consciously noticed was a buzzing in her ears that did not clear away, and a foggy haze that made it hard to concentrate on anything.

Confused and frightened as to what was happening and how she got here, Leia attempted to open her eyes and see where she was, but there was something wrong with her eyesight, she couldn't get a clear look at where she was.

The room from what she could tell was completely black, with spots of red near the walls and what looked to be a medroid to her right, and a person was standing in front of her. Her vision blurred everything together making it harder to distinguish objects from one another, the things closer to her being easier to see, Leia could not tell what else was in the room or judge how big it was. Which was horrific because she did not have bad vision.

This wasn't the only thing terrifying about her current predicament.  


Leia felt incredibly weird, like her entire body was cold pins and needles, there was the strange pull to the front of her neck whenever she turned her head, and she could hardly tell she was sitting on the floor, only knowing because she knew she had fallen. Only now was it registering in her brain she could see parts of her arms and legs were not skin and bones, they were cybernetics. Uncompleted ones at that.  


The princess could vaguely recall planning on going on a mission and being attacked, but the details of the attack escaped her.

Something must have gone horrifically wrong.

She didn't remember leaving that temple. She does remember seeing Darth Vader charging at her with an open fist. She doesn't remember what happened next.  


Leia Organa came to the outcome that she had almost died when Vader ran full force into her.  


With this conclusion Leia thought, _The Rebellion had failed_. Accompanied by sorrow like none has ever had before as she believed, it was her impulsive plan that doomed them all.  


The medical droid approached her but did not make any moves to help her. If it said anything Leia did not hear it over the ringing in her ears.  


Making the first move, Leia tried to remove the contraption on her face, as the medroid was not doing anything to help, but found she couldn't as it was strapped to the back of her head in multiple places she couldn't undo. Her shaven head.

Deciding to do its function, the medroid shined a penlight into her eyes as it spoke, Leia was unable to catch the first part of what it said, but as the buzzing finally cleared from her ears she caught it say. "The painkillers may still be in effect." Speaking impersonally to the other person in the room.

"The Nightsisters continue with their trickery even after their death." A recognizable voice spoke from the blurred humanoid figure. However, not being able to see their face did not mean Leia didn't instantly recognize who it was when they spoke, and the sound of his voice was an added layer of dread on top of everything awful she had been experiencing since she woke up.

 _The Emperor._   


Sheev Palpatine was here speaking to her after she had been grievously injured a mission for the Rebel alliance. This was the worst situation she could have possibly ended up in. Perhaps even worse then her nightmares could make. She hoped her parents had managed to escape safely.  


_You are not you._

_A_ woman's voice whispered, it strangely soothed her. Leia did not know from where it came, but neither the Emperor nor the medical droid reacted to it.  


"The holocron was lost to the Rebels, and you were found injured, unconscious..." The Emperor continued, not expecting to hear a response.  


Leia didn't understand why he was telling her this, unless it was for his own pleasure of mocking her. It's not like if he asked her any questions she would be able to answer, she could hardly think right now. It was oddly peaceful. Her reflection in the floor looked weird, her arms wern't that big were they?

"-And the force within you appears to have been tainted from whatever had happened, Lord Vader."

Her heart rate spiked hearing Lord Vader's name and she was jolted from her half state of haze. Was Vader here in this room right now? She couldn't hear his breathing. Looking around the room she didn't see any figures that could reasonably be him, but it sounded like Emperor Palpatine was addressing him as if he was in the room.

_You are someone else._

"Lord Vader...?" The Emperor asked, turning to directly look down at her reaction, she could feel his eyes looking her up and down, even though she could not clearly see the details of his face. It was almost as if the Emperor was speaking to her when he spoke Vader's name. "I expect you to deal with whatever the witches caused quickly, and return to your duties, you have already been unconscious for several days. The Empire needs your services to function after all."

Palpatine had a way of looking at someone as if he was eating them alive and when he had spoken that last sentence to Leia, she had no doubt he was aiming it at her.  


The Emperor was speaking to _her,_ Emperor Palpatine was addressing _her_ when he said "Lord Vader."  


Either Emperor Palpatine had finally gone senile or, as unlikely, strange and horrific it was Leia Organa was Darth Vader. There was something in her mind that screamed _truth_ when the thought had come to her. The concept of it was a waking nightmare. It might have been funny if not for the experience of living it out.  


"A day more rest is needed to achieve adequate health." The medroid spoke to the Emperor.  


Taking a risk and partially believing in the unbelievable situation of suddenly waking up as the second in command, Leia decided to get up off the floor and try to not to look pathetic. If she were indeed in Vader's body then she should try and act like him.  


Rising on shaky legs, Leia was grateful for her experience in schooling her expression and body language.  


Now standing up it felt like Leia would topple over at any given moment. Vader's body was unevenly heavy.

The Emperor gestured the the figures in red as he said, "Bring Lord Vader to his room then." Before taking a few steps towards her, Leia noticed she was standing much taller then Palpatine as his figure started to un-blur when he encroached on her personal space, giving her a close up view of his scarred and deformed visage. "I'm sure he _needs_ the day of extra rest," the Emperor said condescendingly, "after all, he is going to single handedly hunt down the holocron he lost..."

Being refereed to as "he" was insulting to Leia, more so then she though it could be.

The red figures the Emperor had motioned for did not move to her, rather they changed position in the room to frame what Leia assumed was a door.

Emperor Palpatine, not looking for a response, turned away and left the room. Although, she still felt completely lost, and uncomfortable, she no longer felt threatened now that he was gone.  


"Do not lay down on your back." The medical droid suddenly statically addressed her. "Currently, you have three blaster burns on your back, a mild concussion, and are likely under the influence of painkillers. Recommendation: do not to work on any machines for six hours."

That sounded bad. Although Leia could feel none of it, but it sounded painful. She supposed that was why the droid informed her of this body's injures. Taking note of how the droid did not move to take the respirator from her face, or mention it in its readout of what was wrong, she assumed Vader needed it to breathe at all times.  


_Well that solved the mystery of Vader's breathing,_ Leia thought.

She decided to take this situation in one moment at a time, to try not to think of the implications of all of this until she was alone.

Trying her best not to look awkward or to immediately fall over as she walked with legs far heavier then she was used to, Leia moved to the door in between the red guards and was extremely grateful they opened automatically, as she steeped inside. The red guards did not follow her within it.

It was obviously a bedroom, but there was barely anything to it. Or at least nothing she could see with this blurry eyesight, she could mostly just tell the colors.

All of it was black. The bed was a far less glossy black then the walls and floor were, and that was the only reason she was able to tell them apart.  


Leia wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself, she couldn't stop looking at Vader's hands and seeing cybernetics, still feeling the surreal unreality of this situation. She also could not stop the haze that clouded her mind from the painkilling drug she had been given. It made everything she was experiencing feel much more distant and dreamlike.   


Then a thought came to her. She _had_ to know what Vader's face looked like.  


Upon further inspection of the room there was another medroid in here, next to the bed, and door that opened when she went near it, leading to a bathroom. A bathroom that was completely devoid of a mirror and had only the most basic cleaning supplies.  


It wasn't as if there were no reflective surfaces at all. She felt a bit like a fool, walking up to a wall and staring into it The glossy walls provided a decent reflective surface, although hard to make sense of with Vader's poor vision. The reflection looked more like a mass of pale color and black, then a sentient being.

There was nothing that came close to the feeling of dread and unreality that came from looking at yourself and not seeing yourself. Looking into a reflection and being disgusted by everything you see.

Vader's discolored skin made Leia want to hurl. A lot about him did. Along all visible skin laid different types of scars, the most prominent of which was repeated across their body was a waxy discoloration she did not know the cause of. The second most prominent were raised lines that ran mostly on his right arm. A lot of cybernetics were also grafted onto their flesh, there was metal embedded into Vader's chest and neck, splitting their throat open and going from the underside of their jaw to the center of their collarbone. That is what she had been feeling every time she moved her neck. Above Vader's heart there was a metal rectangle embedded into the skin. The purpose of which she could not begin not guess.

The cybernetics were made unevenly on their arms. The left one was cut above the elbow while the right one was made below it, while Vader's legs were cut off evenly about half way up the thighs. There were other parts of Vader Leia didn't want to think about in the slightest.  


These types of extensive cybernetics were obviously not the voluntary type. Whatever had happened to Lord Vader, Leia was sure he had deserved every moment of it and more. 

Despite all of this, there was something to Lord Vader's face that looked familiar. Leia could not place what it was.

_What would it mean to live in Vader's body? In this body?_ Leia wondered, turning away from her reflection. From the benign to the deadly tasks, she had no idea how she would handle completing any of them. Lord Vader was a powerful yet mysterious figure in the Empire. She had no idea what his duties were besides, kill all the Jedi, and there was less then a handful of them left.

And she was trapped in here without a single idea of how or why or what had happened Darth Vader himself, or how long she was going to be like this, or what comes next.  


It was the most horrific hour in Leia Organa's life.

She returned to the entrance door and noticed there was no keypad entry from this side, and it didn't open when she went near it. Was Lord Vader supposed to use the force to open and close this door? That would be a problem. Leia had no idea how to use the force.

"You are not allowed to leave until you have recovered." The medbot suddenly said, scaring her for a moment, causing her to quickly turn around as if she had been caught doing something she should not have been doing. She had forgotten it was in here.

The Emperor did say something about wanting Vader to 'mediate' until something in the force fixed itself. At the very least she would get a day of rest before she had to do whatever it was that Darth Vader did every day.

Not knowing what to do and feeling awful, emotionally and physically, Leia went to Vader's bed and drifted off to sleep laying on her stomach.

She was dreaming of home when that mysterious woman's voice whispered to her once again.

_Find me._

But this woman had no form. And Leia did not know what she was supposed to be looking for or why.

_With me you will both learn your lesson._

There were many lessons Leia Organa had learned in her short life, she was always learning, but she did not know what lesson she was supposed to learn from this. Whatever this was.

Then she was jolted from sleep by a sharp pinch in her upper arm.

"It is time for you to wake up." The medroid stated staring down at her. It must have watched her while she slept.

For a moment she was very disappointed she had not awoken in her own body in her own bed. Leia's back stung horribly, and her right shoulder throbbed. The painkillers must be wearing off. Getting out of bed sounded awful, moving sounded awful. Had she somehow already slept for a day? Certainly Leia no longer felt tired in the slightest.

She started to make a groan of pain into her pillow, but was startled at the sound of her voice. Vader's voice felt low and harsh in their throat, she could feel the reverberation of the inorganic part of his neck at the sound.

 "It is time for you to wake up." The droid repeated, Leia now noticed it held an empty syringe in it's hand.

Quickly she bolted upright.

The idea of being injected with something she did not know the contents of was greatly disturbing, even if this was not her body.

"What," Leia tried to speak but was once again staggered by the unreality of speaking with Vader's voice, although it was different from how he sounded in armor, there was this strange sense of familiarity to it. "... was in that?"

The droid looked to the syringe for a moment then returned it's gaze to her, and said:

"You have an hour to get ready, Lord Vader."

* * *

 

Being put into Darth Vader's armor was an entirely different experience the Leia thought it would be.   


She felt as if she was being locked into a cage.

Everything was red. Vader's mask tinged everything into shades of red, but it fixed her vision. It also provided a constant readout of the time and her schedule, and the name rank, and species of whomever she was looking at. Helpful, because she did not know the names of every Imperial officer and Inquisitor, but irritating as it came up every single time she looked at anyone and would not disappear until she looked away.  


The armor itself was exactly as heavy as it looked, and the weight of it forced her to always be standing perfectly strait, while the skintight bodysuit was drastically different from the flowing robes of Alderaan. The second the droids had helped her put it onto her body she wanted it off.

One good thing about it was that she could make any face she wanted under there and no one would know.

Leia had a feeling she would be doing that a lot.   


Vader's schedule said he needed to check on the Inquisitors training progress, and then make a brief report on those who currently resided in the castle. Unfortunate, because Leia had no idea how to use Vader's lightsaber or the force, and she had no idea how good the Inquisitors were supposed to be so she had no idea what progress was. Fortunately due to working in the senate Leia had a pretty good idea on how to use her words to make it seam like she knew what she was talking about.   


* * *

 

The Inquisitors of the Empire were know to be deadly efficient killers in the Rebellion, wielding lightsabers in red, they could seemingly turn the tide of any battle and were experts at weeding out spies and hidden bases. Often looking for rouge Jedi directly under the orders of the infamous Darth Vader.  


Now they would be taking her orders, and asked for her advice, because she was Lord Vader.

By some miracle none of them so far had realized there was something wrong or different about their commander, who according to her schedule had to periodically go to their section of the castle and train them.

Leia had expected to have to give them orders on where to go next and to train them in combat. Which she did the the best of her ability, providing advice rather then physically training with them, knowing she would not be able to fake Vader's combat abilities in the slightest. She used blasters, not lightsabers or staffs.

Dealing with the Inquisitors interpersonal problems however, was not something she expected Darth Vader to have to do. More likely was, perhaps Vader simply did not deal with these problems when then came up. But Leia Organa simply couldn't leave the Inquisitors to fight amongst themselves, considering the subjects they often fought because of. Most of which surprised her greatly.

Much like siblings, they often stole things from one another and fought almost constantly, despite the fact that she was positive all of them were older then her, she thought them to be more immature.  


The Inquisitors had an entire wing of Vader's castle dedicated to them, meaning that when they were not on missions they essentially all lived together. This often caused problems for many reasons.  


Number one being that they all were assigned a number and that number meant if you were better or worse then someone else, often causing infighting among those who had a higher number but thought they were better then someone with a lower number. Number two: some of the Inquisitors had previously been Jedi, and they often had a different set of morals from the ones who had not. Number three: and the most unexpected, every single Inquisitor was a different species and a few of them had prejudice that they took out on the other Inquisitors they believed to be less then them.

Having been a part of the senate, and living in the core world, Leia had to often see the Empire's anti non-human propaganda everywhere, so she hadn't exactly expected the Inquisitorial ranks to be entirely made up of them.  


Of course, looking like Darth Vader they always immediately stopped their actions when told. Making them apologize for their uncalled for actions, in theory, would be satisfying as Leia often fantasized about making senators do the same, but it very much was not satisfying. It felt more degrading then anything else.

Most of the Inquisitors acted as if they held great fear of Lord Vader. When they bowed to her, it was different then when her servants on Alderaan bowed. It felt wrong to see them get to their knees before her, but she could not tell them to stop as it would be out of character for Lord Vader to do so. Leia did not like the feeling of being feared.

There was only one Inquisitor Leia felt as if respected her, and did not fear her.

"Vader is there something wrong?" An absolute brute of a tusked alien woman asked her in one of the hallways she had been passing through. Noticeably she did not call Lord Vader by a title of any sort. Somehow she was taller and more muscular then Lord Vader's body was. The readout on Vader's mask told her she was a Dowutin named Masana Tide, a former Jedi now the Ninth Sister. By some means she had picked up on the fact that Leia was different then Vader, something none of the other Inquisitors had managed.  


"No. I am quite alright." Leia answered, still not used to Vader's mechanical voice coming out of her mouth. There was also this uncomfortable pull on the corners of her mouth when she spoke.

"Your force presence seams muddled." Ninth said with a confused face looking her up and down. "As if you're slowly stepping out of the dark side entirely."

Leia was only half sure what those words meant, but based on how that was phrased she knew that was not how Darth Vader normally was. That was worrying.

"I promise you I am fine." She tried reassuring the woman again.

"Don't get me wrong, I like this change in you. You're much less," she gave a vague hand gesture, "self destructive. I assume you took my advice?"

Leia did not know what Ninth had said to Lord Vader, nor why she would need to use the words self destructive to describe him, but seeing and easy out of this conversation she said. "Yes. I did take your advice."

She smiled, it was much sweater then she though a dedicated Imperial's smile could be.

"Good on you." Genuine and kind she spoke, before simply moving on her way.

Leia decided she rather liked her over every one else she had met in this castle.

Perhaps, respect was the wrong word for how the Ninth Sister felt towards Lord Vader.

It felt more like pity.

* * *

 

Being Darth Vader was bad in unexpected ways, she was expected to work with little sleep on subjects she knew very little about, and she had to keep that awful armor on most all the time. And when she did have it off it was only ever in his bedroom or that room with the bacta tank. At all times she was being watched, by those guards in red or by that medical droid, she felt as if she had no privacy whatsoever.  


At some point in time Leia began to think of Lord Vader's body as her own body. She wasn't entirely sure how she would keep the distinction apart in her mind when she always saw through and existed in what had once been his eyes and body. Often she wondered if Vader was in her body, thinking the same things.

It was not comfortable, she would never be completely fine like this all the time, but she was not unused to seeing Vader when she looked into reflective surfaces.  


The only friendly face she had seen was from the Ninth Sister and Leia and only seen her that one time.

Only three days had passed since she had woken up as another person.  


And then Leia realized she had access to _everything._ Everything the Rebellion could ever need was sitting right in front of her. No one would question the authority of Lord Vader if she went looking for any information. All she had to do was get said information to the drop zones.

It was worth the sacrifice of having to live as someone else in a life she hated. It was worth the discomfort of her own skin. It was worth never seeing her parents again. She could save the galaxy. The Rebellion could actually win the war.  


Perhaps the Holocron had given the Rebellion _exactly_ what they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen a lot of body swap fics but none of them ever really capture what I imagine the horror of suddenly being in someone else's body is like. Especially if that person is someone you don't like or/and if their body is drastically different from your own.


End file.
